C#/VB.NET: Create a PDF Document

2023-05-25 00:56:49 Written by  support iceblue
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Creating PDF documents from code offers a wide range of benefits. For example, you can easily incorporate dynamic content such as user input, database records, or real-time data. Code-based PDF generation allows for greater customization and automation, minimizing manual intervention in creating highly tailored documents. In this article, you will learn how to create a PDF document from scratch in C# and VB.NET using Spire.PDF for .NET.

Install Spire.PDF for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.PDF for.NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLLs files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.

PM> Install-Package Spire.PDF

Background Knowledge

A page in Spire.PDF (represented by PdfPageBase) consists of client area and margins all around. The content area is for users to write various contents, and the margins are usually blank edges.

As shown in the figure below, the origin of the coordinate system on the page is located at the top left corner of the client area, with the x-axis extending horizontally to the right and the y-axis extending vertically down. All elements added to the client area must be based on the specified coordinates.

C#/VB.NET: Create a PDF Document

In addition, the following table lists the important classes and methods, which can help you easily understand the code snippet provided in the following section.

Member Description
PdfDocument class Represents a PDF document model.
PdfPageBase class Represents a page in a PDF document.
PdfSolidBrush class Represents a brush that fills any object with a solid color.
PdfTrueTypeFont class Represents a true type font.
PdfStringFormat class Represents text format information, such as alignment, characters spacing and indent.
PdfTextWidget class Represents the text area with the ability to span several pages.
PdfTextLayout class Represents the text layout information.
PdfDocument.Pages.Add() method Adds a page to a PDF document.
PdfPageBase.Canvas.DrawString() method Draws string on a page at the specified location with specified font and brush objects.
PdfTextWidget.Draw() method Draws the text widget on a page at the specified location.
PdfDocument.Save() method Saves the document to a PDF file.

Create a PDF Document from Scratch in C# and VB.NET

Although Spire.PDF for .NET supports adding various kinds of elements to PDF documents, this article only demonstrates how to create a PDF document with plain text. The following are the detailed steps.

  • Create a PdfDocument object.
  • Add a page using PdfDocument.Pages.Add() method.
  • Create brush and font objects.
  • Draw string on the page at a specified coordinate using PdfPageBase.Canvas.DrawString() method.
  • Create a PdfTextWidget object to hold a chunk of text.
  • Draw the text widget on the page at a specified location using PdfTextWidget.Draw() method
  • Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.Save() method.
  • C#
  • VB.NET
using Spire.Pdf;
using Spire.Pdf.Graphics;
using System.Drawing;

namespace CreatePdfDocument
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create a PdfDocument object
            PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();

            //Add a page
            PdfPageBase page = doc.Pages.Add(PdfPageSize.A4, new PdfMargins(35f));

            //Specify heading text
            String titleText = "What is MySQL";

            //Create solid brushes
            PdfSolidBrush titleBrush = new PdfSolidBrush(new PdfRGBColor(Color.Blue));
            PdfSolidBrush paraBrush = new PdfSolidBrush(new PdfRGBColor(Color.Black));

            //Create true type fonts
            PdfTrueTypeFont titleFont = new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", 18f, FontStyle.Bold),true); 
            PdfTrueTypeFont paraFont = new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", 12f, FontStyle.Regular), true);

            //Set the text alignment via PdfStringFormat class
            PdfStringFormat format = new PdfStringFormat();
            format.Alignment = PdfTextAlignment.Center;

            //Draw heading on the center of the page
            page.Canvas.DrawString(titleText, titleFont, titleBrush, page.Canvas.ClientSize.Width / 2, 20, format);

            //Get paragraph content from a .txt file
            string paraText = File.ReadAllText("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\content.txt");

            //Create a PdfTextWidget object to hold the paragrah content
            PdfTextWidget widget = new PdfTextWidget(paraText, paraFont, paraBrush);

            //Create a rectangle where the paragraph content will be placed
            RectangleF rect = new RectangleF(0, 50, page.Canvas.ClientSize.Width, page.Canvas.ClientSize.Height);

            //Set the PdfLayoutType to Paginate to make the content paginated automatically
            PdfTextLayout layout = new PdfTextLayout();
            layout.Layout = PdfLayoutType.Paginate;

            //Draw the widget on the page
            widget.Draw(page, rect, layout);

            //Save to file
            doc.SaveToFile("CreatePdfDocument.pdf");
            doc.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

C#/VB.NET: Create a PDF Document

Apply for a Temporary License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.

Additional Info

  • tutorial_title:
Last modified on Friday, 26 May 2023 01:33